--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Unknown is an ocean. What is…" description: "\"“The Unknown is an ocean. What is conscience? It is the compass of the Unknown. Thought,”\" — Victor Hugo" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4db/victor-hugo-32_conscience_the-unknown-is-an-ocean-what-is-conscien_3226315.jpg" --- # The Unknown is an ocean. What is conscience? It is the… ![“The Unknown is an ocean. What is conscience? It is the compass of the Unknown. Thought,” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4db/victor-hugo-32_conscience_the-unknown-is-an-ocean-what-is-conscien_3226315.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4db/victor-hugo-32_conscience_the-unknown-is-an-ocean-what-is-conscien_3226315.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4db/victor-hugo-32_conscience_the-unknown-is-an-ocean-what-is-conscien_3226315.jpg) > ““The Unknown is an ocean. What is conscience? It is the compass of the Unknown. Thought,”” [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The unknown represents vast possibilities; conscience guides us through it like a compass, directing thought and action. **In simple terms:** Conscience guides us through the unknown. Key Takeaway Trust your inner compass. Themes guidance uncertainty thought Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - making decisions - exploring new ideas - overcoming fear Key Concepts philosophy ethics self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize your true conscience? - What compass do you follow when faced with uncertainty? A Different Perspective Conscience can be biased or unclear. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) [Conscience Compass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience-compass-2667716/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Ocean Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean-conscience-2667715/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Unknown Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unknown-ocean-2667717/) [Unknown Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unknown-thought-1609336/) ## Related quotes > [The Unknown is an ocean. What is conscience? The compass of the Unknown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-cook/the-unknown-is-an-ocean-what-is-conscience-the-compass-of-the-unknown/) [Joseph Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-cook/) > [Humanity is lost because people have abandoned using their conscience as their compass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/humanity-is-lost-because-people-have-abandoned-using-their-conscience/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [Known is a Drop,Unknown is an Ocean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/known-is-a-drop-unknown-is-an-ocean/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is far more important to me to preserve an unblemished conscience than to compass any object however great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/it-is-far-more-important-to-me-to-preserve-an-unblemished-conscience/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [“into the unknown? Where everyone thought we were creatures that just exploded? No, thank you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mulle/into-the-unknown-where-everyone-thought-we-were-creatures-that-just/) [Mark Mulle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mulle/) > [“Before marriage she had completely mastered my imagination, for she was a secret to me; and I created the unknown thought before which I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/before-marriage-she-had-completely-mastered-my-imagination-for-she/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Love Is the unknown thought behind the relationship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabelo-lan-mashabela/love-is-the-unknown-thought-behind-the-relationship/) [Sabelo Lan Mashabela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabelo-lan-mashabela/) > [God lives in cozy homes. Happiness, which a cozy home can give you, is so divine on this Earth, you don't need anything more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/god-lives-in-cozy-homes-happiness-which-a-cozy-home-can-give-you-is/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [“Conscience is a strange thing...No matter how great the happiness around me, my soul would have been in darkness. The circumstances of happiness are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/conscience-is-a-strange-thing-no-matter-how-great-the-happiness/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [I have examined the death penalty under each of its two aspects: as a direct action, and as an indirect one. What does it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/i-have-examined-the-death-penalty-under-each-of-its-two-aspects-as-a/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Let us be thankful for health and competence, and, above all, for a quiet conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/izaak-walton/let-us-be-thankful-for-health-and-competence-and-above-all-for-a/) [Izaak Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/izaak-walton/) > [My conscience is really active. So I feel bad about spending excess amount of money on things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd/my-conscience-is-really-active-so-i-feel-bad-about-spending-excess/) [Syd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd/) > [Writing adds up to the conscience of our times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-firrell/writing-adds-up-to-the-conscience-of-our-times/) [Martin Firrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-firrell/) > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) [Rabelaise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabelaise/) > [Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/self-respect-and-a-clear-conscience-are-powerful-components-of/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) ## More by Victor Hugo > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“There is still a certain grace in a dead festival. It has been happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/there-is-still-a-certain-grace-in-a-dead-festival-it-has-been-happy/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“First I loved women, then animals, and now I love stones. They're just as amusing as women and animals and they're much less trecherous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/first-i-loved-women-then-animals-and-now-i-love-stones-they-re-just/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Nature is pitiless; she never withdraws her flowers, her music, her fragrance, and her sunlight from before human cruelty or suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/nature-is-pitiless-she-never-withdraws-her-flowers-her-music-her/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Have courage for the great sorrows of life, and patience for the small ones. And when you have finished your daily task, go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/have-courage-for-the-great-sorrows-of-life-and-patience-for-the-small/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [The peasants of the Asturias believe that in every litter of wolves there is one pup that is killed by the mother for fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-peasants-of-the-asturias-believe-that-in-every-litter-of-wolves/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Great blunders are often made, like large ropes, of a multitude of fibres.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/great-blunders-are-often-made-like-large-ropes-of-a-multitude-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“For love is like a tree; it grows of itself; it send its roots deep into our being, and often continues to grow green…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/for-love-is-like-a-tree-it-grows-of-itself-it-send-its-roots-deep/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Blacheville smiles with the self-satisfied smugness of a man whose vanity is tickled”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/blacheville-smiles-with-the-self-satisfied-smugness-of-a-man-whose/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Loving in ignorance, she loved with all the more passion. She did not know whether it was good or evil, beneficent or dangerous, necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/loving-in-ignorance-she-loved-with-all-the-more-passion-she-did-not/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/laughter-is-the-sun-that-drives-winter-from-the-human-face/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Our joys have shadows. The perfect smile belongs to God alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/our-joys-have-shadows-the-perfect-smile-belongs-to-god-alone/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“When those we love are in question, our prudence invents every sort of madness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/when-those-we-love-are-in-question-our-prudence-invents-every-sort-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Love is a fault; so be it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/love-is-a-fault-so-be-it/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) [Explore all 2,181 Victor Hugo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## More Conscience quotes > [Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/self-respect-and-a-clear-conscience-are-powerful-components-of/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) [Rabelaise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabelaise/) > [Writing adds up to the conscience of our times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-firrell/writing-adds-up-to-the-conscience-of-our-times/) [Martin Firrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-firrell/) > [My conscience is really active. So I feel bad about spending excess amount of money on things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd/my-conscience-is-really-active-so-i-feel-bad-about-spending-excess/) [Syd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd/) > [Let us be thankful for health and competence, and, above all, for a quiet conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/izaak-walton/let-us-be-thankful-for-health-and-competence-and-above-all-for-a/) [Izaak Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/izaak-walton/) > [Making money doesn't oblige people to forfeit their honor or their conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-de-rothschild/making-money-doesn-t-oblige-people-to-forfeit-their-honor-or-their/) [Guy de Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-de-rothschild/) > [“If we cannot be happy and powerful and prey on others, we invent conscience and prey on ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/if-we-cannot-be-happy-and-powerful-and-prey-on-others-we-invent/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [The God in whose hands are all our days and ways, did cast into my hand one day a book of Martin Luthers; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/the-god-in-whose-hands-are-all-our-days-and-ways-did-cast-into-my/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [My morals are important to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-parrish/my-morals-are-important-to-me/) [Hunter Parrish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-parrish/) > [Being tolerant does not mean that I share another ones belief. But it does mean that I acknowledge another ones right to believe, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-frankl/being-tolerant-does-not-mean-that-i-share-another-ones-belief-but-it/) [Viktor Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-frankl/) > [Never can true courage dwell with them, Who, playing tricks with conscience, dare not look At their own vices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/never-can-true-courage-dwell-with-them-who-playing-tricks-with/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [In presenting a mathematical argument the great thing is to give the educated reader the chance to catch on at once to the momentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/in-presenting-a-mathematical-argument-the-great-thing-is-to-give-the/) [John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/) > [I've worked with people who are much further to the left than I am and much further to the right than I am. At…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hanks/i-ve-worked-with-people-who-are-much-further-to-the-left-than-i-am/) [Tom Hanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hanks/) > [If all the world hated you and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved of you and absolved you from guilt, you would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-all-the-world-hated-you-and-believed-you-wicked-while-your-own/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [ \[D\]on't grow old. With age comes caution, which is another name for cowardice… Whatever else you do in life, don't cultivate a conscience. Without… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hesketh-pearson/d-on-t-grow-old-with-age-comes-caution-which-is-another-name-for/) [Hesketh Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hesketh-pearson/) [Browse all 3,490 Conscience quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The Unknown is an ocean. What is conscience? It is the compass of the Unknown. 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